Local wind powering more U.S. companies

Report provides detailed look at distributed wind in America

August 17, 2016

• Frances White, PNNL, (509) 375-6904

RICHLAND, Wash. - American companies are increasingly making their own power - and sales - with wind turbines located near the factories and buildings that consume the power they make, concludes a report released today.

The 2015 Distributed Wind Market Report offers the 4th yearly analysis of a growing field called distributed wind, which involves generating wind power near where it will be used instead of purchasing power from large, centralized wind farms. Distributed wind can range from a small, solitary turbine at a remote cabin to several large turbines powering an entire neighborhood.

"Wind plays a key role in the rising area of distributed energy," said report co-author, Alice Orrell, an energy analyst at the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab.

"Although distributed wind is not as widespread as distributed solar, new third-party financing options similar to the lease model that spurred growth in the residential solar market could also grow distributed wind," added PNNL energy analyst Nik Foster, the other co-author.

The report's key findings include:

• 37 percent of the new distributed wind capacity added in 2015 was for industrial uses, including factories, processing plants, and operation facilities.
  • Companies using distributed wind include the Whirlpool and Ball corporations in Ohio, soap manufacturer Method in Illinois, and Stafford Co. Flour Mills in Kansas.
• Exports of U.S.-made small wind turbines, which generate up to 100 kilowatts, doubled from 2014 to 2015 - adding 21.5 megawatts of capacity in 2015. Small wind exports have accounted for in excess of $310 million in combined sales between 2012 and 2015.
  • Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan are among the biggest importers of U.S.-made small wind turbines.
• 28 megawatts of new U.S. distributed wind power capacity was added in 2015 by installing 1,713 turbines. This brings the U.S. to a total of 934 megawatts of distributed wind capacity and 75,000 turbines installed since 2003, or about one percent of all U.S. wind energy capacity installed since then.
• Ohio, Nebraska and Connecticut led the U.S. in new distributed wind power capacity in 2015 - respectively adding 7.7, seven and five megawatts, due to a large plan in each of those states.
• The estimated cost of energy made from a sample of small distributed wind turbines was eleven cents per kilowatt hour in 2015, compared to overall residential electric rates that run between about nine and 21 cents in the Continental U.S.
• Yearly distributed wind capacity additions have declined since 2012, when federal stimulus backing spurred renewable energy's expansion.

More information can be found in the full report and in DOE's announcement.

Tags: Energy, Wind Power, Green Energy

Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an Yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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